Superintendent gets Millstone Award for defending sex offender who exposed himself to girls in locker room

United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) is awarding its February 2025 Millstone of the Month Award to Arlington, Virginia Public School Superintendent Francisco Durán for doubling down on the district’s commitment to building an “inclusive community” for “those who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

His statement came after a registered sex offender was caught repeatedly exposing himself to females in a locker room on school property.

“This is a perfect example of how ‘woke’ government school officials value perverse agendas and virtue signaling over protecting girls and women,” said Sheri Few, USPIE’s founder and president. “It’s hard to imagine why parents in the Arlington school district would put up with this.”

USPIE’s Millstone of the Month award goes to “the person involved in government schools who has committed the most egregious acts against children.”

Richard K. Cox, a registered sex offender who was first charged with indecent liberties in Arlington in 1992, was arrested in December 2024 after several people reported a naked man watching women in the changing room of the Arlington Aquatic Center, which shares facilities with Washington Liberty High School, according to ABC 7News. The man apparently identifies as a transgender woman.

When asked about the incident, Durán released a statement asserting that “[o]ur facilities are designed to be safe, welcoming spaces where our community can come to connect, engage and focus on their health and wellbeing,” according to the statement obtained by 7News.

“APS permits pool patrons to access restrooms and facilities that correspond to their gender identity,” an Arlington Public Schools spokesman told 7News. “We take every report of concerning or unsafe behavior very seriously and do not tolerate behaviors from any individual who is threatening or making others feel unsafe. APS responded to all patron concerns related to this matter in a timely manner and took appropriate and immediate action to investigate, notify law enforcement, and prevent the individual from returning to our pool facilities,” according to the Daily Caller.

Some women allege the school was aware of Cox’s presence at the school months prior.

Several women apparently alerted the director of Aquatics Management at APS, Helena Machado, of the man’s presence in September of 2024 but were told to use the individual changing facilities if they were uncomfortable, the Arlington GOP said.

“Cox’s pending charges in Arlington County include 12 counts of loitering near a school, daycare, park or playground as a registered sex offender, three counts of entering school or daycare property as a registered sex offender, four counts of indecent exposure, two counts of indecent liberties with a child and one count of identity theft since October of 2024,” The Daily Caller reported.

“Prior to the incidents in Arlington, Cox was arrested in Fairfax County in June of 2024 for indecent exposure in the women’s locker room of a Planet Fitness, though the charges were dropped after Cox argued he legally changed his sex to female, according to 7News.”

“It’s obvious that the people pushing transgenderism in government schools couldn’t care less about what it’s doing to women and girls in sports facilities,” Few said. “They care only about sowing sexual confusion. Mr. Durán richly deserves our Millstone Award.”

United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) is a nonprofit, nationwide coalition that is fighting to return education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. It is the vision of USPIE to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates.

USPIE has reached hundreds of millions through radio, television, print and digital platforms, exposing the truth and inspiring parents to act. The organization has helped parents create Education Sanctuary Zones — safe havens where real education thrives, free from federally-mandated wokeness, CRT, transgenderism and other such evils. USPIE’s podcast, “Unmasking Government Schools with Sheri Few,” aims to educate parents on the various forms of indoctrination occurring in schools across the country. Listen to “Unmasking Government Schools with Sheri Few,” on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify and X.

For more information on United States Parents Involved in Education, visit www.uspie.org or follow USPIE on Facebook or X.